Honu!

The south swell dropped and the water is slowly clearing up, but the day was pretty perfect!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and was happy that I was the only one there.  The turtles were much friendlier today with the water being clearer too.  My first turtle surfaced near the boat lane so I paddled over.  It popped up and looked at me, but didn’t stay long.  Then I spotted two more turtles out farther so I paddled out to them and was able to sit right between them for a few minutes!  Other turtles surfaced one at a time, until four turtles surfaced all at once and surrounded me!  I was having a great time until four kayaks full of tourists showed up and then five other stand up paddlers.  It was getting a bit more crowded than I am comfortable with, so I headed back.  Sixteen turtles was good enough for me!  I paddled back in nice conditions and then ran into a paddling friend heading into Kam II and we also saw a turtle there.  We chatted for a while and then paddled north until a south wind kicked up and she decided to turn around.  I was heading back when I heard someone yelling to me from one of the boats that is anchored out off of Kam I.  It was the guy that owns the boat and he was asking me if his girlfriend could try out my board, so I paddled over and climbed into his boat.  It was getting choppy as she tried hard to stand up, but she kept falling into the water!  Her boyfriend was out in the water trying to help her stabilize the board, but it was pretty choppy.  She was able to paddle back to the boat, so I got my board back.  He has a nice little boat with plenty of room under the deck for three people to sleep…nice!  I paddled in over the chop and then went for my swim.  Except for the wind coming in, the day was really nice!